Calvin James
My eyes opened for the day just before 4:00 AM. I listened to the birds coming awake in the trees just outside our bedroom window and thought “how blessed I am.”
I spent some time talking to God about the names He brought to mind. There were three new names that came in the last 4 months: Calvin, Emma and Tanya.
As my mind grew sharper, I began to think of my day ahead and my calendar note that said “PLAN NOTHING – REST” in bold red print across this whole weekend. I was up making my coffee by 5:00 AM and watching my little dog search for the perfect spot on our freshly-mowed lawn.
A quick text to my son and daughter-in-law, “I’m up if Calvin is awake and chatty and you’d like more time to sleep.” No response made me a little bit disappointed.
I settled in to write a bit, turned on Pandora heard Chris Tomlin,
“You’re a Good, Good Father
It’s who you are, it’s who you are, it’s who you are”
A quick check of my social media shortly after I woke reminded me of today’s date, May 7.
“And I’m loved by you
It’s who I am, it’s who I am, it’s who I am.”
It was four years ago at this very time when my son Josh and I were in hospital beds at Lahey Hospital in Burlington, Massachusetts. They were wheeling him down the hall to the operating theater to remove 60% of his liver to transplant in me to replace my diseased organ right at about this time.
“You’re a Good, Good Father
It’s who you are, it’s who you are, it’s who you are”
Four years ago people joined in prayer all over the world for us and waited for my sister, Gloria, to post updates through the day.
“And I’m loved by you
It’s who I am, it’s who I am, it’s who I am
Emma Hazel
Cause you are perfect in all of your ways
You are perfect in all of your ways
You are perfect in all of your ways to us”
I wrote my last blog post before transplant the night before. Rereading it this morning is surreal:
“As I write this, I’ve got to tell you I’m that I’m scared. I’m not afraid of the outcome… I’m scared of the process … I have no fear that Josh and I will be preserved … we were preserved years ago and rest in the hands of our Father no matter what … I’m at peace with the surgery and that’s weird for me … Jesus holds us. He loves you like crazy!”
“You are perfect in all of your ways
You are perfect in all of your ways
You are perfect in all of your ways to us”
Those three names on my mind this morning … Calvin, Emma, Tanya … three precious children, two my grandchildren, one my newly newly sponsored child in Guatemala, will grow up different because my God has chosen to restore and heal me.
“Oh, it’s love so undeniable
I, I can hardly speak
Peace so unexplainable
I, I can hardly think”
Tanya
These words on my screen are blurred again through the tears that come so frequently in these bonus days of the last four years. The graduations, the weddings, the family times, the new friendships … new life came when life was about gone … abundant life more than I could ever ask or imagine
“You’re a Good, Good Father
(You are perfect in all of your ways)
It’s who you are, it’s who you are, it’s who you are
And I’m loved by you
(You are perfect in all of your ways)
It’s who I am, it’s who I am it’s who I am.”
Loved by You. Yes, it is who I am and I will never again take that for granted.
Thanks for this bonus day, Lord, and for any you choose to grant me from this day forward.
By the way, Calvin and I are now hanging out listening to the toddler station on Pandora while the rest of the house sleeps.
“B-I-N-G-O, B-I-N-G-O, B-I-N-G-O, and Bingo was his name-O.”
Can it ever get any better than this?
Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. Psalm 139:16
Drinking from the Same Dipper 